Golf's BMW Championship To Be Pushed One Week Later In August; Plan For Now Is To Have Spectators
OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. (CBS) -- The PGA Tour has been busy trying to rework the golf schedule in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, and the consequence is that golf's major championships will look quite different this year.
Unfortunately, the British Open – scheduled for July – was canceled for the first time since 1945. But the other majors are on, at least for now.
This week was supposed to be Masters week, with Tiger Woods defending his title. It has now bene rescheduled for football season – Nov. 12-15.
The PGA Championship has been moved from May to August, in turn pushing everything back. The BMW Championship at Olympia Fields is one week later than originally scheduled, from Aug. 25-30, and the U.S. Open goes from June to September.
The Ryder Cup in Kohler, Wisconsin is also still on.
CBS 2's Megan Mawicke chatted with Vince Pellegrino, the senior vice president at the Western Golf Association, about how this affects the BMW Championship with 70 of the best players in the world competing in it.
"It is just a week later. Olympia Fields has been great to work with; to accommodate the shift in schedule, but it's really only one week later, so you know, tickets are just going to be good for next week; the hospitality for the next week, so the scheduled tweaks are minor," Pellegrino said.
While anything can happen, the plan for now is that fans will attend.
"Right now, that's the plan is for us to have spectators. I think we'll know more in the next couple months as to other PGA Tour events that do get played, whether that happens with or without spectators," Pellegrino said, "and we'll take all of our cues from the PGA Tour, but most importantly from the health experts and the local authorities about what's best to host this championship successfully and safely."
All proceeds from the BMW Championship support the Evans Scholars Foundation, giving college scholarships to caddies.